


Tilling My Own Grave

by foggynite



Series: What Have I Become [1]
Category: Power Rangers Ninja Storm
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Animal Transformation, F/M, Gen, M/M, Ninjas - Freeform, Paranormal, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Slash, Rangers, Supernatural Elements, Vampires, Warlocks, Werewolves, Witches, slow burn Cam/Hunter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 17:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30025110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foggynite/pseuds/foggynite
Summary: Cameron Watanabe is a warlock and a ninja, sworn to uphold order and maintain peace between the supernatural beings of the city. With the three rookie rangers under his supervision and a father stricken by a curse, he's been spread thin as it is, but then his cousins and two brothers appear in town to further upset his equilibrium...
Relationships: Blake Bradley/Tori Hanson, Hunter Bradley/Cameron Watanabe
Series: What Have I Become [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2208714
Kudos: 1





	Tilling My Own Grave

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to FFN on Jul 15, 2004.
> 
> Title from "Weak and Powerless" by A Perfect Circle.
> 
> Original Notes: Some ideas borrowed from LJ Smith's Night World book series, as well as her Dark Visions series and White Wolf's Hunter: The Reckoning game.

He let out another calming breath, feeling the tension slowly leave his body. Musty air filled his lungs at each inhalation. The only sounds in the room were his own breathing and the rhythmic slide of metal over whetstone. He felt the muscles in his arm elongate and contract in a steady pattern.

His mind was mercifully blank.

Soft footsteps approached, barely distinguishable from the hum of the ventilation unit outside the window. His next exhalation was more like a sigh, and the intruder knew it.

"Surely it is unwise, my son, to engage in the sharpening of our weapon store with no light to guide you?"

The deep voice seemed incongruous with the tiny body that now housed his father, but Cam did not pause in his task, merely frowning into the darkness.

"Because I haven't done this thousands of times before, Dad. Nor do I need to accustom myself to the dark."

The sarcasm was apparently lost on his father, or the man deliberately chose to ignore it. "True, you are well-acquainted with your task, but I fear you may become too lax in your attention for that very reason."

He hadn't addressed Cam's second comment, but then, Cam didn't expect him to. That, along with his father's response, made Cam's reply sharper than he would have normally allowed.

"I thought the point of meditation is to empty your thoughts and focus on your task."

Before his father could answer back, Cam set the whetstone aside with a tense movement. Knowing his father, he could probably see Cam's glower in the darkened room, but Cam didn't care.

Like it wasn't bad enough he wasn't allowed to go on missions, but to have his 'busy work' criticized now too? He was always stuck here at the dojo when the rangers were out hunting, risking their lives when they hadn't even had half of Cam's training, and he was expected to just sit around doing nothing? Insult to injury, and he was twenty-three, not some two-year-old. Not like his father was that concerned with the difference.

That was a childish thought, and he knew it. He sighed, striving to blank his expression and hold on to any sort of peace.

"Was there a reason you came to get me?" He tried not to sound as frustrated as he was, but it probably came through anyway. These were difficult times they faced, and he was a grown man, but surely he was used to his father's sometimes irrational concern for him by now.

"You asked me to inform you when the rangers were returning." The solemn voice was to his left. He could barely make out his father's shape in the dim light from under the door. "They are on the approach as we speak, according to Shane. Their mission was successful."

"Great," Cam muttered as he rose swiftly to his feet. "You did remember to turn off the cell-phone this time?"

"Indeed, son."

Without another word, Cam placed the long dagger on their arsenal table next to the whetstone. Absently wiping his fingers on his jeans, he pushed through the heavy steel door. Ignoring his father, he went straight to his computer desk without waiting for his eyes to adjust to the harsh fluorescent light of the basement. He blinked at his old monitor for a second, fingers typing in his password from long experience, and he suppressed another sigh as he called up the mission files.

He tried not to be envious of the rangers. He tried really hard. But it was difficult being the son of a sensei, trained in the ninja and witch ways since he was a child, even running his father's dojo in the man's "absence," and yet his father wouldn't allow him to hunt as their family tradition decreed. Instead, his father had enlisted three students who were also witches but had only been studying for a year, if that, and were routinely late to class as it was. What really offended Cam was that he could best all three of the current rangers at once if he wanted to, but his father still claimed he didn't have the experience and training to go out into the field.

So instead he had to play secretary when they came back, keeping a log of their missions and recording anything unusual that happened. In their world, every bit of information helped, no matter how inconsequential, and the completed logs would be uploaded to the Council's main network so other ranger teams could access them.

The opening of a window upstairs alerted him to another presence in the building. He froze, holding his breath, until the light footsteps were joined by two others, and they made it down to the basement door without setting off the wards. The tap of the keys on the security pad were steady and knew the correct password. But he wouldn't relax until he had visual confirmation it was his friends.

The tingle of the security wards ran along his arms as they entered the concrete stairwell. Shane's legs appeared first, clad in all black and stockier than Dustin's but thicker than Tori's, which were close behind him. Dustin trailed behind, looking a little anxious, and that made Cam leery.

"Dude, what's up?" Dustin smiled broadly and tried to look innocent. Cam leveled a glare at him, but the ninja started babbling. "You were totally right about that old warehouse down near the docks. It was completely infested, and things were rotting and it was gross. You're so lucky you weren't there. I thought Tori was gonna hurl—"

"Hey!" Tori paused in unlacing her uniform long enough to take a swipe at Dustin, who dodged and blithely continued.

"But seriously, dude, we got there and managed to save some chick, but she ran screaming and we were too busy getting thrashed to stop her."

"I'll keep an eye out," was all Cam said, still regarding Dustin suspiciously. 

Shane was moving stiffly, which meant that he probably had an injury or two, and Tori's all-black uniform was glistening with blood, so she was either injured or had just been very enthusiastic. But what he noticed was that the other two Rangers had placed their weapons on the table and Dustin had not.

Before the taller boy could launch another deflective monologue, Cam leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms, and gave Dustin the Sensei Look he had learned from his father.

"Where is it?"

"What, man?" Dustin blinked innocently and even reached up to anxiously comb a hand through his hair.

Oh yes, Cam knew where his bo staff was. "You did it again."

"Dude, it was so totally not my fault this time, I swear!" Dustin turned on his pleading and earnest gaze, his big brown eyes professing his innocence. Cam was unmoved. "There were, like, a dozen of them crowding in from all sides, and I was going at it, and one of them kicked me in the chest while five more piled on me—"

Shane snorted, wincing as it tugged his ribs. "There was, like, three of them in total, man."

"--and before I knew it, they were grabbing your bo and I couldn't stop them and they broke it, but I managed to get a hold of one end and stake two with it..." Dustin produced a sticky bit of wood shorter than his forearm from within the folds of his uniform.

Cam rubbed his eyes slowly with thumb and forefinger, feeling the last vestiges of the peace he had found during meditation slip away. Luckily for Dustin, Sensei made an appearance, bouncing off the back of the poor guy's head and onto the table, next to Tori and Shane's bokkens.

"A ninja enters combat like a soft summer's breeze, Dustin, and leaves just as quietly. The art of stealth is your greatest weapon."

Dustin nodded, rubbing his head. "Yes, Sensei."

Cam stopped grinding his teeth and intervened before his father could pull out the big metaphors. 

"Dustin, that's the third bo this month you've either lost or destroyed. Those staffs were specifically made with vampire hunting in mind. Now we know the vampires are not stupid, so what do you think will happen if they find any trace evidence on those weapons? What do you think will happen if they manage to find out where those staffs came from? Their resources are much broader than ours, I assure you."

The look on Dustin's face turned glum and he dropped his eyes to the floor. "They jumped me, is all I'm saying."

"You acted well, given your circumstances," Sensei said soothingly. Well, as soothing as a talking guinea pig could seem. "But perhaps some extra training might be in order. Say, tomorrow afternoon?"

"But—" Dustin began to protest, then cut off abruptly when Shane coughed knowingly into his hand. Dustin's shoulders sagged. "Yes, Sensei."

"Very good. Cameron will instruct you."

Cam felt the urge to whine like Dustin but controlled himself in time. He thought of it more as a manly griping. "I was planning to upgrade the computer systems between classes."

"Surely helping your fellow student to hone skills that may very well save his life has greater importance over technical details that can be completed at a later time."

Cam didn't dignify that with a response, knowing that he never really had a choice anyway, and turned to enter the statement Dustin had given in the computer. Without looking up, he said, "Shane, sit at the table. Tori, go get the first aid kit."

"Why do I have to—" Shane started to protest while Dustin sniggered, but a look from Cam and they both sobered.

"So, Shane. What's your report?" Cam asked in a toned laced with annoyance, fingers rapidly flying over the keyboard.

"Uh, basically the same as Dustin's, without the getting my ass kicked part." They both ignored Dustin's indignation. "We got there, and they had a girl cornered, so we broke it up. She ran. I don't know if she was bitten or not. I took out three of them, Dustin got two, and Tori got the other four."

"Anything unusual?" Cam prompted without looking away from the monitor.

"Yeah. They seemed really disorganized. Like, no one listened to anyone else. I think that's how we were able to get so many."

"Interesting," Cam mumbled and looked over at Tori, who was laying the first aid kit out on the table.

"Oh, I agree with everything they said," she offered with a smile. "Dustin got his butt kicked, Shane got dog-piled, and I saved the day, as usual."

Cam had to grin as the guys glowered and didn't deny it. "You can give me a more detailed account later. How severe are your injuries, Shane?"

"They're—fine." The team leader flinched as he tried to take off his uniform. "Just some bruises. I'll live."

Sensei spoke up again. "Perhaps one of the other rangers should inspect them, just to make sure."

While Tori and Dustin stood around poking at Shane, Cam finished the mission log and went through another check of the security cameras outside. Nothing unusual. He could only hope that the rangers hadn't been tracked back to his home.

Funny how he had an amazingly painful headache. But then, that was his usual state of being around the three rangers.

"Ugh. I need a shower," Tori exclaimed behind him, echoed by Dustin.

Cam just stared blankly at the security monitor, wishing them all away now that he knew they were safe. After some more whining from Shane, they were back in street clothes and ready to go. Finally.

"Hey, man," Dustin nudged him. Cam looked up warily. "You wanna meet up tomorrow after I get off work?"

"That'll be fine, Dustin." He would have agreed to anything at that point. He just wanted some quiet.

"Cool. Catch you then."

At last, the only sounds left were the hum of the computer equipment and the hissing of the air vents. It was after two in the morning. He could sleep, or he could do the damn computer upgrades.

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he dragged the box of parts closer.

~~~

His early afternoon class was beginner's Tae Kwon Do, which he could teach with his eyes shut. Which he tried to teach with his eyes shut. It didn't work. But he made it through the forty-five minutes unscathed and waited impatiently for Dustin to show up.

After a half-hour of catching up on some software upgrades, he decided to try Dustin's cell as his father frowned furrily at him. The phone didn't even ring, just went straight to voicemail, so that meant Dustin had forgotten to turn it on. Again.

"Perhaps you should investigate his tardiness, if only to ascertain that he is unharmed."

Cam grimaced at the suggestion but found himself walking the ten blocks to Storm Chargers anyway. And he had to admit, it was rather nice to be out in the sun for a little while, if you discounted the fact that, while all the made-vampires took shelter during the day, the lamia, or born vampires, could be the person walking right behind you. Add into that the werewolves and shapeshifters and dark witches, and he really had nothing to be paranoid about. Nothing at all.

He'd only been in the store once before, but it wasn't big and he easily found Dustin in the back workshop. The brunette was conversing with two other men, the three of them gathered around a dissected bike like vultures over a carcass.

"So I was planning on using a higher—Oh hey, Cam!" Dustin noticed him lurking in the doorway. "Dude, what're you doing out of the house?"

"Ha ha. Did you forget our appointment?" He directed his best glare at Dustin, whose eyes widened comically.

"Oh man, I totally forgot! I am so sorry—"

"It's all right," he interrupted, if only to keep Dustin from going on. It most certainly was not all right. "I still have an hour before my evening class."

"Right." Dustin finally turned to his two companions. "Sorry, guys, I promised to hang with Cam—"

"Hey, it's cool," the shorter of the two said. He grinned over at Cam and waved. "I'm afraid we're the reason Dustin's running late. I'm Blake Bradley, and this is my bro, Hunter. We're new in town. Dustin was just telling us about the local scene."

The younger man had an open smile, but there was something in his eyes that made Cam uneasy. A slick slide of power behind his irises. Like a fellow warlock. He, at least, seemed friendly enough. Cam wasn't getting the same witch vibes off his brother, but then, the two of them didn't really look related. His brother who was a hulking, glaring giant that seemed to be sizing Cam up. Of course, Cam was tired and might be projecting his own hostility, but the other man's obvious study of him was disconcerting.

Cam nodded a greeting anyway, trying to seem pleasant and not wary. Dustin scrambled to clean up the mess around the bike, chatting as he tried to wipe grease from the counter.

"These guys rock, Cam. Their riding is just sick, man!"

He had never understood the merits of that particular slang, but he tried to look interested. He addressed Blake with his next question since the other brother was still staring at him with a neutral expression. "So you met Dustin at the track?"

"Yeah. He's got some mad skills himself." Blake smiled at Dustin, who just grinned and kept shoving things in his backpack. "We were hoping to find some other motorheads around here."

"Well, I'm sure you won't be disappointed," was all Cam could think to say. Riding a bike in circles while getting muddied beyond recognition didn't seem like entertaining recreation to him, but who was he to judge?

"Cam's more into computers than sports," Dustin supplied helpfully from under a counter. Cam wanted him to hurry up.

"I happen to enjoy many things, Dustin. Trying to break my neck at high speeds isn't one of them." To his relief, Dustin and Blake just laughed. Hunter seemed vaguely amused, if the haughty smirk on his face was anything.

When it looked like Dustin was ready to go, Blake asked, "So where are you headed?"

"Cam's gonna show me some new moves," Dustin said innocently while chopping exaggeratedly at the air. Cam wanted to kick him.

"You do martial arts?" Hunter asked rather disbelievingly of Cam, the first words he'd spoken since Cam arrived. His gaze traveled over Cam with more interest this time and the computer tech found his cheeks flushing at the scrutiny.

"Dude, he runs the dojo downtown." Dustin supplied when Cam was reluctant to answer.

"Yeah? Whatcha teach?" Blake asked with real interest.

"Mostly Tae Kwan Do," Cam finally said stiltedly.

Hunter let out a disdainful snort while Blake gave his brother a reprimanding look.

"You have a problem with Tae Kwan Do, I take it?" Cam asked, relaxing back on his heels now that he was actually able to read the taller man's emotion.

"No problem, if you like jazzercise for the martial arts inclined."

"Well, it's true that it was originally created for the Korean army to keep in shape, but it does teach discipline and promote health."

"You sound like a brochure," Hunter mocked. 

Dustin and Blake exchanged glances, but Cam ignored them.

"What would you prefer I teach, then?" Cam asked with false solicitude.

Hunter seemed to lean forward, bright blue eyes intense. "Why not something cool, like ninjitsu?"

"Well, for one, it's illegal to teach it in the United States, at least in its proper form." He met Hunter's challenging gaze steadily, trying not to lean himself. "And to teach anything less would be dishonorable."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "You always play by the book?"

"If I want to keep my livelihood."

Smirking, Hunter just shrugged and looked away. "Seems a shame..."

Cam turned resolutely to Dustin before anyone could remark on his flushed cheeks. "Shall we?"

"Sure, man." Dustin did some complicated hand clasp thing to Hunter and Blake, and then they were out on the sidewalk, heading back towards the dojo.

The silence between them lasted until they were a few blocks from the dojo. Cam had been surreptitiously scanning the city around them, unable to shake the feeling that they were being watched, so Dustin's rambling caught him off guard.

"Sooooo, man... If you want I can...Well, I mean... I don't know if he's, like, into _that_ , but I can... Y'know... Put out some feelers. Only if you want, though--"

Cam frowned at him distractedly, attention caught by an illegally parked limo up the street. "What are you babbling about now...?"

Blushing, Dustin just shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I mean, we'd pretty much guessed, y'know? So, we're all like, cool with it, and all. I can find out more about him and his bro if you want..."

Cam blinked and tried to focus on Dustin's last statement. A difficult task even when he wasn't being sidetracked. "Who? Hunter and Blake?" He ventured a guess. 

When Dustin nodded, he shrugged and spoke quietly. "It definitely wouldn't hurt to look into them. I hadn't heard anything about new warlocks coming into town, so I'd like to know what the Council's up to."

Dustin looked like he wanted to say more, but Cam quickly pulled him into the mouth of a nearby alley. At the other man's questioning look, Cam gestured across the street, where two women were getting out of the stretch limousine. One had curly brown hair artfully piled on top of her head, delicately holding a small handbag as she pushed her sunglasses further up her face. She was followed by a taller, bored-looking woman with pink hair and long nails. They were flanked on either side by expressionless bodyguards, and people stopped on the sidewalk to stare. Regally, the two entered a small boutique with their entourage.

"Who was that?" Dustin loudly whispered, still plastered against the brick wall of the building.

"My cousins," Cam murmured and tugged on Dustin's arm until the other man followed him down the back of the alley to the next street over. His apprehension must have been apparent, because Dustin refrained from asking further questions and kept up with his quick pace.

The day just kept getting better and better.

The dojo was empty and silent when Cam unlocked the doors. Passing through the threshold, he felt the pull of the wards, which was a small relief.

"At least security's still up," Dustin offered with a wan smile.

"Yeah." Cam hurried to the back of the building, unlocking the door to the basement instead of heading up to his apartment. 

After his father had been cursed, Cam had installed a series of passages in the air ducts so that his father could move freely about the building. But his father's new accommodations were downstairs, and that was where he could usually be found.

"Dad?" He tried not to let his nervousness show in his voice, but he had a feeling he failed when his father quickly appeared.

"Yes, Cameron?"

The relief that hit him was a tangible thing, and he had to clench his fists to keep his hands from shaking. "We just saw Marah and Kapri on Harbor Street. Have the wards picked anything up?"

"No, son. But this is most disturbing. Dustin, please gather the other rangers."

The guinea pig jumped over to the computer console and Cam swung into the chair, already typing in commands and calling up the remote access link to the Council's network. Multiple passwords later, he was scanning files and checking the latest postings on the message boards.

Dustin stood at a loss behind them, and finally demanded, "Are these guys, like, evil or something? I thought you said they were your cousins."

"They are," was all Cam said and planned to say until the last two rangers arrived.

"Whatever," Dustin mumbled and hovered behind his chair.

Shane bounded down the stairs a few minutes later. "What's up? I was in the middle of practice, man."

"Cam's cousins are evil." Dustin supplied helpfully. Shane just nodded sagely and tried to look like he knew what was going on.

"Where's Tori?" Cam asked over his shoulder.

"Primping for some guy she saw at the beach. Dude thought he was a Don Juan and she went all girly over him."

Cam just raised an eyebrow at Shane's hostile tone and sighed with exasperation. Of all the times for Tori to develop a social life. They didn't have time for this.

"We need her here. Now."

Shane paused, and Cam braced himself for another pissing contest. Thankfully, the other man just shrugged after a moment and pulled out his cellphone.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." He tried not to be too sarcastic. Shane just waved him off.

None of the boards had any recent sightings of his cousins. The latest posting was two months old and from across the country. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans, glad he had taken the hours that morning to upgrade the security system. Of course, the wards had been doubly reinforced since the last time...

With a shake of his head, Cam turned to the monitors for the back alley. The computer had facial recognition software and digital enhancement capabilities, but Cam still felt like it wasn't enough. He always felt like all of his precautions weren't enough these days.

"Hey," Tori said as she came up beside him to peer at the screens. Her voice was soft. "How's it going?"

Cam had to forcibly refrain from rubbing his tired eyes. "Getting worse by the moment."

He turned to find Shane and Dustin looking at him expectantly. Frowning, he called up the most recent profile shots of Marah and Kapri in the database.

"Right. These are my cousins. Kapri's the one with experimental hair and Marah is... Marah." He couldn't think of a good way to describe the girl. "They're both dark witches with a tendency towards summoning creatures and siccing their goons on people."

"Heh. They have goons," Dustin said with a dopey grin that quickly disappeared when Shane and Cam glared at him. "I'm just saying..."

"Together," Cam continued through gritted teeth, "they can be a handful. Kapri likes to start trouble wherever she goes, and Marah will tag along. She likes to play the innocent, while Kapri is just vicious. If confronted directly with force, they'll usually back down."

"So where's the problem?" Shane demanded, smacking his fist into the palm of his other hand. "We just politely ask them to get the hell out of our city and dog 'em until they do."

"It's not as simple as that, though I wish it were." Cam accessed another photo, this one older than the other two. "Marah and Kapri don't usually travel alone, and if they do, it's under his orders."

"Isn't that..." Tori spoke up from next to him.

"Yes. Lothor. My uncle." His jaw was beginning to ache.

"He's the one." Dustin stopped abruptly. 

The three rangers glanced at Sensei's furry form resting easily to Cam's left. Cam swung back around in his chair to face the monitors.

"Indeed, Dustin," Sensei spoke when Cam remained silent. "My brother is the one who cursed me."

"And we think he's in town?" Shane asked Cam's back.

"It is likely that, should he not currently be here, he will be soon." His father's movements were punctuated by the clack of his tiny nails on the computer console. Cam focused on scrolling through the message boards. "His appearance may be connected to the increased vampire activity we have witnessed lately. You will all do best to be on your guards. If he suspects you have any involvement with the rangers, he may retaliate against you to get to me."

"But this may be a chance to break the curse," Shane protested. "If we can force him to revoke it, you'll be back to normal. We can't just ignore this opportunity."

"No, Shane," his father's tone was firm. "It is too risky. If confronted by Lothor, I want you to retreat to the safety of the wards as quickly as possible."

"What if we can capture him, though?" Dustin asked earnestly.

The words were blurring in front of Cam.

"If given the choice, I would ask that you destroy him." 

Sensei's demeanor was grave and perfectly serious. Silence descended for a moment.

"If we do that, Sensei, you'll never be free," Tori finally said, voice small.

"I would rather live out the rest of my life as a guinea pig than lose another soul to that madman. The brother I love died the moment he became a vampire."

Face carefully neutral, Cam turned around again. "We don't know anything for sure yet, so be on guard. Keep your eyes open and note anything unusual."

"Weirder than normal, you mean?"

"Yes, Dustin."

"I think," Sensei interjected. "It might be best if we increased your training as well."

Shane shrugged. "We practically live here already, if we're not at school or work."

"So, all you need to do is actually spar instead of pester me," Cam deadpanned. 

Tori gave his arm a playful shove.

"Someone has to make sure you're still breathing."

"Well why don't you go practice your gymnastics as well as your katas while I breathe on my keyboard, hm?" He smirked at them when they sighed in unison.

"Excellent idea, son. Come, Dustin. I will observe your form with the bo after your warm-ups."

Sensei herded Shane and Dustin to the other side of the basement, where parallel bars, rings, and a sparring mat were set up. Tori lingered at Cam's elbow, looking at the pictures on the screen.

"Are you okay with all this?" She finally asked bluntly. Cam shrugged.

"I don't have much choice, do I? You heard him." He kept his voice low. "He wants us to just leave it be. We're supposed to be protectors. It's our sacred duty, but he would rather we run." He paused. "Well, that you run. I'm not exactly facing down demons and vampires now, am I?"

He didn't really bother to hide his bitterness with Tori anymore. She had offered a friendly ear for his frustrations more times than he could count, and he appreciated it. But complaining wasn't going to change anything. He gave in to the temptation to rub his weary eyes and stood up with a sigh. Tori just looked at him with concern.

"My class starts in ten minutes," he said, drudging up a smile. "I'll be back down in an hour. Then you can tell me about this guy you met at the beach."

She rolled her eyes. "Shane has such a big mouth. It's no big deal. Blake's new around town, so we're just going out for coffee."

He frowned at the name, but recovered quickly. Arching an eyebrow, he smirked. "Coffee. Really."

"Yes, really." She glared playfully at him, but Shane called for her to come over. "The fact that he's totally hot doesn't hurt anything, either."

With that, she stuck out her tongue at him as he rolled his eyes back at her. She ran over to join the other two rangers as they did pushups, Sensei hopping around on their backs. Cam watched her go, happy that at least one of them was having a good day.

The mention of a new guy in town named Blake made him uneasy, though. As he walked up the stairs, he resolved to investigate the Bradley brothers as soon as possible. Their appearance could just be coincidence, but with his cousins in town, Cam wasn't taking any chances. He hadn't been vigilant enough the last time and his father had paid the price, fighting Lothor while Cam was unconscious under the remains of the old computer mainframe. He had never felt so helpless as he had when he woke up to find a rodent staring back at him, speaking with his father's voice. He'd already lost his mother; he wasn't going to lose his dad, too.

Sighing, he pushed through the door from the basement and retreated to his office to change for class.

~~~

Preparations for patrol were tense that night. While the three rangers suited up, Cam stood in the armory, trying not to yawn as he ran an experienced eye over the wooden and steel equipment. Uncharacteristically, no one spoke.

Cam wanted desperately to be out there with them, doing something active, something more than waiting for news. Instead, they were all doing their nightly routines.

The walls of the small room were lined with every weapon available to a ninja and more, each carefully maintained by Cam, and he wondered which staff he wanted to sacrifice to Dustin next. Sighing, he selected the strongest one, then a katana for Shane, and a set of sai for Tori, as well as shuriken.

Returning to the main room, he studied the somber faces of the rangers. At least they were being serious for once. His father was just wrapping up his nightly wise and motivational speech, so Cam laid the weapons out on the table and waited until he was finished.

When his father fell silent, Cam cleared his throat and motioned to the weapons. "Try not to lose these, all right? We don't really have the budget to order more at the moment, and they're a pain to make from hand. So unless you want to get sanding, I suggest you exercise a little caution. Got it, Dustin?"

The brunette winced and nodded sheepishly. "Caution. Right."

Giving him a warning look for good measure, Cam continued. "Until we know exactly what we're up against, I'd like if you kept mostly to recon. Dustin, Shane. Start with patrolling the docks again, then make your way downtown. Keep an eye on the vamp and werewolf gangs, see what they're getting into. Try not to pick fights with everyone, Shane."

Ignoring the team leader's protest, Cam turned to Tori. "I need you to scout out the Bloody Mary, see if there're any new faces around. Don't make contact with anyone. This is just observation. We can start pulling in favors and asking around once we know who's in town."

"Why does she get to sit outside a club all night?" Dustin complained.

"Because she has the best memory," Cam answered simply. "I want you all to check in at least twice, once at midnight and again when you're on the return. Got it?"

They nodded and he looked questioningly at his father. 

Sensei merely bowed his head to them, a gesture they mirrored, and said, "Be careful, my rangers. May the Goddess protect you."

They left quickly and Cam stood for a moment, adjusting to the sudden quiet. His father padded slowly to the edge of the table.

"I'm going to reinforce the wards, son. Please let me know if you need anything."

An empty gesture, but Cam nodded anyway. Sensei sprang off the table into the shadows of the basement, heading for the small room behind the water heater where they kept the physical manifestations of their magical security grid.

Leaning over the computer console, Cam checked to make sure the electronic security system was functioning properly. He logged back into the rangers' section of the Council network. He called up the messages about Marah and Kapri again, searching for any known acquaintances they might be traveling with. 

Their last sighting was in New York City with one of his uncle's generals, Zurgane. The werewolf was practically the second-in-command of his uncle's outfit, but Lothor had at least a dozen more under-bosses he employed, and any one of them could be in the city at the moment. With a determined frown, Cam started gathering intelligence on all of them, adding to the profiles already in his personal database.

Several hours of searching later, he leaned back from the console to stretch. His father had been systematically adding layers of power to each ward on the building and Cam's hair was standing on end. He almost didn't register the tingle from the back-alley ward when it was triggered. He could feel his father sensing the intruders, but then Sensei stood down, making it easier for them to get in. The ward on the door to the basement warned him a second before the commotion in the stairwell had him on his feet. Dustin and Shane came staggering down the stairs.

"What happened?" Cam demanded as he registered their bedraggled state.

"Some dude called Zurgane tried to rip our heads off, but other than that everything's peachy..."

Sarcasm on Dustin was a little scary. Cam hurried over to help with Shane, who was favoring his ribs again and leaning heavily on the taller ranger, who was in turn limping and using the wall for support. Together, they managed to get to the futon Cam kept in the corner for nights like these.

"Aw man, and I have to go to dinner with my parents tonight," Shane groaned as they lowered him down.

"Just tell them it was a skateboarding accident," Cam suggested dryly while he efficiently stripped the jerkin from the younger man. 

Shane glared at him through the pain. "Yeah, 'cause they don't already think I suck from all my 'accidents.' I'm never gonna get them to spring for that new deck if I keep getting thrashed..."

"Then stop getting thrashed."

Shane glared some more for good measure. Dustin flopped down on the futon next to him and gave him a weary shrug.

"At least we didn't lose our weapons, dude."

Cam quickly walked his fingers across Shane's ribs, trying not to put too much pressure on the already darkening bruises, but needing to know if anything was obviously broken. Compound fractures would require they go to a hospital, but Cam knew how to heal and bind simple breaks and cartilage damage. None of Shane's ribs had the sponge-like feel that usually meant a serious break, and despite his pallor, the team leader was alert and feeling well enough to be cranky, as was his usual state when injured. Some of Cam's tension eased.

"It feels like you've cracked these three here," Cam muttered and motioned for Dustin to grab the first aid kit under the futon. "Aren't these the ones you injured last night, too?"

"Yeah," Shane rasped, wincing. "Obviously, I need to work on my left guard. I didn't want to tape 'em tonight 'cause it hurt to breathe."

"Well, I'm sure it hurts a lot worse now." He plucked the medical tape from the box Dustin held open, as well as a bloodstone. "Now lay back and let me see what I can do."

He held the stone over the bruised area, focusing on the simple charm for healing. The ability was one that all of the rangers had, but Cam had the most practice. The spell was also a drain on the performing witch's power, and Cam was the only one besides his father who didn't use his powers on a regular basis during combat situations. He would be able to heal the bone and connective tissue, but the soreness and bruising would linger for a day or two.

The shrill ringing of his cell phone interrupted his focus.

"I got it," Dustin whispered, limping to the computer desk. Cam resumed his concentration, but Dustin tapped him on the shoulder, offering the phone. "It's Tori."

Keeping himself under tight control, he took the phone. "Yes?"

"Cam? We've got a situation here," Tori huffed into the phone. It sounded like she was running.

"What is it?"

"I just found Blake in an alley by the Bloody Mary. He's been bitten. Vampire."

"Do you know how to reach his brother?" Cam knew where this was going to end up and he didn't like it at all.

"No. They don't have a phone yet. We were just going to meet up." She kept pausing for breath and he realized she was carrying Blake.

They couldn't take him to a hospital; there would be too many questions and keeping the human authorities from knowing about their world's existence was a top priority, even over the life of one person. That didn't mean he was willing to let an innocent warlock die, though, so his options were limited. 

He would have liked to tell Tori to take the long route to the dojo, warned her to make sure her tracks were covered, maybe even directed her to another witch he knew that could handle a vampire bite. But the other witch lived in the suburbs, and they didn't have much time.

"Bring him in the back door to the dojo kitchen. Is he awake?"

"No."

"I'll meet you upstairs."

He snapped the phone shut and looked down at Shane, who had his eyes tightly shut. Dustin was swabbing at the deep scratches on his own leg with a gauze pad. On one hand, he wanted Shane healed as quickly as possible in case there was another confrontation ahead. On the other, he needed his father to keep reinforcing their security.

"Dustin, can you get my father to take care of Shane?"

"Sure, dude."

Cam quickly removed what he needed from the first aid kit and jogged up the stairs. Tori was closing the back door as he came out of the basement, and he hurried to help her. She had slung Blake over her shoulder for the journey, obviously struggling to keep the broader body balanced, and the look she gave Cam from behind her mask was fiercely determined.

"Just lay him on the floor," Cam ordered, catching Blake under the arms as she lowered him. A streak of blood was running down his face, pooling near his temple from when he had been upside down. The bite mark on his neck was a jagged crescent, not especially deep. It obviously hadn't been meant as a killing blow, so why would he be dumped in an alley? A tryst from the club perhaps?

While Tori kept the unconscious man's head supported, Cam wiped the bite area thoroughly with an alcohol swab. More blood oozed up, but it didn't have the purplish tint of infection that vampire bites got further in their progression. A recent bite, then, probably within an hour. Blake was lucky.

Wielding an un-labelled pump-spray bottle, Cam coated the area with the clear liquid. It was a counteragent to the enzyme in vampire saliva that caused the transformation. In humans, the transformation required they be bitten three times and then share the blood of the sire. Witches were harder to turn and it was a complicated process, but the bite caused them illness, even death.

It was best to treat bites as quickly as possible, and the counteragent stung horribly according to Shane, so it was no surprise that Blake's eyes fluttered open when it started to fizz like hydrogen peroxide on a cut.

"Wha--?" Blake blinked up at them, a dopey smile coming across his face despite the pain. "Hey, Tori..."

"Hi." She smiled for the first time that night. "How do you feel?"

Cam rolled his eyes at the obvious question but remained silent.

"Dizzy... Kinda weird." Blake mumbled, eyes drifting half-closed.

"You were bitten by a vampire," Cam supplied helpfully when it looked like Tori was just going to pet the man's hair all night. "Do you remember anything about the attack?"

"Huh?” Blake looked confused and disoriented. "We were supposed to meet up with a friend once we got into town, but we couldn't find him… I went to the club to find out if anyone's seen him. Then I..."

He trailed off, blinking again. Cam got out a penlight and shined it in his eyes. The pupils were unevenly dilated. 

"Looks like a concussion. Or he's on something."

"I had a soda. I think." He slurred.

Tori cradled his head, fingers checking for any lumps. "It doesn't feel like he's been hit..."

"A spell, maybe?" Cam speculated. He hadn't ruled out drugging. If it was hypnosis, then it should have been broken when he woke up.

Blake tried to sit up and Tori helped prop him against the cabinet doors. He grimaced and touched his neck, which had stopped fizzing. Cam swatted his hand away and opened a pack of gauze.

"Don't mess with it," he murmured. "It's still vulnerable to common infections."

"Yes, sir," Blake grinned cheekily at him. 

Cam had the feeling he was used to being fussed over. Not that Cam was fussing. He glared until Blake held up his hands in mock surrender.

"It's all right, Blake." Tori said brightly with a tight grin at Cam. "You're safe here, but maybe we should contact Hunter?"

"Yeah," Blake seemed to be more alert by the minute. He gingerly moved his head from side to side when Cam was done bandaging. "He'll go nuts once he finds out, though, so I should probably tell him in person."

Then he blinked and looked around for the first time. "Where are we?"

"Cam's dojo," Tori supplied and Cam wanted to strangle her.

He'd tried explaining to the rangers once about volunteering information or giving more than was strictly necessary, but did they ever listen? No. And they had the gall to say he was paranoid, too. At least Blake had already known about the dojo, thanks to Dustin, but Cam had been hoping to get him away from here without letting him know where it was.

"Tori, why don't you drive Blake home since you have a van?" Maybe then they could find out where the two brothers were living.

"Oh, hey, you guys have done more than enough already," Blake protested with a charming smile. "As much as I'd love more time with you, Tor, I really couldn't ask you to drive me all the way home, too."

Cam frowned at the casual diminutive. Tor? She'd break their kneecaps if they tried to call her that, but she was just grinning at Blake.

"No, it's okay. Honest. I'm heading home anyway."

He'd have to get her report tomorrow, but it was his own fault for suggesting she drive. The two of them helped Blake to his feet, holding him steady when he swayed, and got him out the back door to the alley they used as parking. Dustin's motorcycle was carefully tucked out of sight next to the dumpster, and Blake didn't comment as they poured him into the van's passenger seat.

Saying a quick goodbye, Cam hurried back into the dojo and secured the door before going back downstairs with the leftover medical supplies. Shane was dozing on the futon while Dustin and Sensei spoke quietly next to the computer.

"Cameron, Dustin has shared some disturbing news," his father said when he was near.

"More disturbing than Zurgane?" He asked with resignation.

"Indeed. Dustin?"

"Yeah, man. I meant to mention earlier—" Dustin's eyes were wide. "We stopped to break up one of the gang fights, cause they were being really loud, and that's when this Zurgane guy appeared out of nowhere. He started to get all furry, so the gang backed off, but there was this dude behind him, just watching the entire time we were fighting. He was in full ninja gear, I swear. When Shane fried Zurgane with his fire, this guy steps forward and grabs Zurgane by the scruff, then they teleported out of there. The gang freaked and ran."

Cam sat down slowly at the computer desk, digesting what had been said. Automatically, he opened a new file and started logging the information.

"You have no clue who it was? Other than the fact that it was some guy in a ninja suit?"

"Well, I think it was a guy. I didn't get a very good look." Dustin scratched at his head. "He was tall, though. I think."

Cam sighed. "Good enough. I'll ask Shane if he remembers anything more when he wakes up."

"Yeah. Can he sleep here tonight? I heard Tori leave and he'd kinda fall off my bike, dude."

"Yes." Cam checked the clock. It was only a little past midnight. If there was any more excitement going on that night, they'd have to hear about it through the grapevine. "Go home, Dustin. Get some sleep."

"Cool." The ranger had already changed out of his uniform, but he paused, looking at Shane. "Tell him I'll pick him up in the morning, okay?"

"Will do."

After Dustin left, his father retired back to the wardroom. Cam began searching through the files again, trying to find any mention of rogue rangers or ninjas or even just rogue witches. Shane's snoring grated on his nerves, but he tried to tune it out. He couldn't help the anxiety churning in his stomach, no doubt preventing him from sleeping. There was just too much happening in a short span of time.

He thought of Tori's smile in the kitchen and recalled uneasily how Blake hadn't even looked twice at her uniform.

~~~

Shane woke up late the next morning, since Dustin hadn't been on time, so Cam didn't have the chance to ask him about the night before. Instead, they made tentative plans to discuss it when Shane showed up for training.

Thoughts of the previous night plagued Cam throughout the day, though, despite his best efforts to concentrate on his paying students. For all that his nights were filled with rangers and hunting and magic, his days were filled with trying to pay the bills that the nights entailed. He had a continuous stream of classes starting with a short half-hour Tai Chi session at seven, then three forty-five-minute Tae Kwon Do classes on the hour starting at eight, two karate classes in the early afternoon, and another two Tae Kwon Do classes in the evening.

Before his father was cursed, Cam would have just handled the TKD sessions, but he couldn't afford to hire on another teacher to help him with the workload now and had to do as many as possible. 

The ninja classes his father had taught at night exclusively for witches were no longer an option, since Cam didn't have the stamina to run the dojo the entire day then switch to using magic and the more intense ninja training. He had already lost over fifteen pounds in the six months since the curse, and, having been in shape before, it was weight he couldn't afford to shed. It had gotten to the point that he sometimes forgot to eat for an entire day, subsisting mostly off water until he felt dizzy and remembered food. 

Every time it happened, he berated himself, because he needed to be in his best condition if he was going to keep the team running. The rangers policed the supernatural elements of the cities, and he would rather cut his arm off than deal with the Council's version of 'help,' meaning sending in some psychotic zealots as back up, resulting in more tension and death around the city.

No, he needed to stay in control. And maybe part of that was his childish hope that he could save his father, even if the man appeared to have little concern for his own predicament.

With Lothor in town, things would only get worse, if they ever got better again, and the rangers just didn't have enough experience. He needed some way to prepare them better because these enemies weren't like the scattered gangs they had been dealing with since his father had been de-commissioned. 

Zurgane was a beast and a fool, but he followed Lothor's orders. If his uncle wanted the rangers dead, the werewolf was the most logical assassin to be sent. Cam had warded Tori's house and the cesspit of an apartment Shane and Dustin shared. He just worried that the wards wouldn't be enough to deter the werewolf, or that Kapri and Marah would find a way to disarm them. Or that Lothor would, like he did before, but Cam and his father had devised the stronger ones since then.

The ninja with Zurgane was another source of distress, if only because Cam had absolutely no information on him—or her—and that made the situation very dangerous indeed. Zurgane relied heavily on his brawn to fight, Marah ran from physical conflict, and Kapri wielded a sword with enough knowledge to be a nuisance. But none of them had any in-depth ninja training, and that had been an edge Cam depended on to keep the rangers ahead. Adding this new player to the game would only cause trouble. From what Dustin had said, the ninja had magical training, too.

His stomach roiled painfully as he bowed to his second class of the day, dismissing them. He had already gone through half a roll of antacids by that point, and he hadn't even let himself think on the fact that they had allowed Blake Bradley inside the building. Depending on the younger man's knowledge of wards, he could be a security threat.

With a sigh, he started gathering the sparring pads into orderly piles for the next class.

"Hey."

Tossing the last of the pads, Cam turned to the unfamiliar voice. Hunter Bradley stood at the edge of the mats, hands shoved in his pockets as he watched the students leave. Arching an eyebrow, Cam walked over.

"Hello." He didn't offer more than that, intent on making Hunter be the one to reveal anything. 

The elder Bradley gave him the ghost of a smirk, recognizing the tactic, and shifted uncomfortably in place.

"Look, is there somewhere we can talk?" He asked in a quiet voice. Noticing that students were beginning to file in, though, he frowned. "If now is a good time?"

Cam hesitated a beat before answering. "I have another class in fifteen minutes, but we can talk in my office."

Without waiting to see if Hunter agreed, Cam slipped on the tatami shoes he had left at the edge of the mat and grabbed his water bottle, heading to the door set in the far wall. 

His office wasn't that big—it had just enough room for his desk and a few chairs and filing cabinets—but it offered him a view of the main floor through a one-way mirror set in the wall. Since all of his new customers were brought into the office to sign up, his students knew he could see them, and it enabled him to keep observing the class if he had to step out during drills.

When they entered the office, Cam shut the door carefully behind them. Taking his seat behind the desk, he motioned for Hunter to choose one of the two chairs available.

Sitting so that he faced the mirror, Hunter seemed at a loss for words. His tall frame was hunched over, and his hair looked as though it had never seen a comb as he ran his hands nervously through it. There were lines of strain on his face and his blue eyes kept flickering around the room, to Cam then his desk then the shelves and back again.

"So I guess you know why I'm here?" He finally said, glancing at Cam and smiling ruefully. It made him seem young, yet far too old at the same time.

Cam shrugged. "I assume this is about Blake."

"Yeah. He, ah—He says thanks, by the way. Tori filled him in on what happened after he passed out."

"It was the least we could do," was all Cam could think to say.

"You didn't have to take him in, but you did. Most people we know would have left him on the curb." He grimaced. "After searching his pockets, of course."

Cam chose his next words delicately. "It's a nice city to live in, if you can survive the night-time activities. I'll admit that not everyone is as caring as Tori."

"And I wondered why the property values were so low..." Hunter muttered with a smirk, then his expression turned serious. "But still. Thank you. For me, too. I mean, he's my little brother, y'know? He's all I've got."

Thinking of his dad, Cam studied Hunter's profile. "I understand."

That earned him a searching glance, but the blonde returned to watching the students prepare. "Then maybe you can help me find who out did it. I'd really like to know."

There was a sharpness in Hunter's face during the statement that triggered a warning instinct in Cam. Nothing too obvious, just the set of his mouth and the predatory gleam in his eyes. It wasn't the passionate anger of a shapechanger, nor was it the murky power of a witch.

It was currently an extremely sunny day, one that Hunter had to have walked through to get to the dojo… 

Maybe it was bright enough to dull Hunter's powers until Cam couldn't pick up on them, masking him from detection. But what would a pureblooded vampire be doing with a warlock for a brother?

He realized his heart rate was increasing and tried to inconspicuously take a calming breath. Hunter looked over the desk at that moment, face neutral but with an amused glint. 

Cam didn't back down from his gaze, taking in every nuance just as he knew-- _knew_ \-- Hunter was doing the same to him. There was a great deal of anger in the other man's aura, what little of it Cam could read, but his ice-blue eyes were vibrant with frustration and an uneasy hate and... love? They both had people they were trying to protect.

But he was lamia. That automatically made him an enemy until proven otherwise beyond a single doubt. If then, even.

Cam finally cleared his throat, idly picking up a wooden pencil to twirl in his fingers. "I'll see if there's anything I can find out. This certainly isn't something we want happening again."

"I intend to make sure it won't," Hunter said with a closed smile. When he looked away, their connection was broken, but Cam could feel it like a physical presence in the room.

"Is that your dad?" Hunter asked suddenly, nodding at one of the award placards on the wall. A picture of a teenage Cam receiving the award, his father standing gravely behind him, was tucked next to it.

"Yes." He answered shortly, his expression discouraging. 

Hunter didn't seem to notice. "Is he into martial arts, too?"

There was something lurking under the question that Cam couldn't read. Lifting one shoulder casually, Cam nodded. "He was."

Hunter glanced quickly at him, noting the past tense. "Was?"

"He's on sabbatical at the moment." The well-rehearsed excuse fell easily from his lips. "I'm running the dojo while he's gone."

"Hm." Hunter nodded. "Cool. Even if you do teach Tae Kwon Do."

"Thanks," he responded dryly. 

Hunter flashed him a genuine smile, their eyes meeting again, and Cam fought down the flare of attraction that tried to kindle despite the awkwardness of the conversation. He didn't trust Hunter, and the feeling was obviously mutual. Physical desire had no place in their interactions. From the way Hunter shifted back, smiling dropping away, he had obviously reached the same conclusion.

"Well, I should let you get back to your class," the blonde said abruptly.

Cam just nodded his agreement and stood. Hunter rose from his chair with cat-like grace, incongruous to his height. They stared at each other for a moment, then Hunter headed for the door.

"I'll see you around," he said. It was a promise and a threat and an entreaty all at once.

"I'm sure," Cam replied, unconsciously gripping the pencil he still held tighter as the door shut behind his visitor.

He took a deep breath, fighting to regain his composure before facing his students. He glanced at the mirror, noting how they all seemed to be chatting or laughing together. There were only two witches in this class, and they stood to the side talking, relaxed and comfortable in a room full of humans.

The pencil snapped in his palm and he tossed the two ends at the trash can. He told himself he didn't envy his students. 

Their mundane lives weren't his concern, nor anything he could ever have.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://jrocci.tumblr.com/)


End file.
